April 9 , 2009

Part IV

Final Out Of The Reserve Clause

Now it’s December, 1975, and Curt Flood has been out of baseball for over four years.  

Next up against the reserve clause is Los Angeles Dodger’s pitcher Andy Messersmith.  Messersmith had gone to spring training in 1975 without agreeing to a new contract.  If he and the Dodgers couldn’t come to terms he would play out his option during the 1975 season. Terms were never reached and Messersmith went on to play the 1975 season without a contract.

After having an outstanding season in 1975, Messersmith sought to file a grievance against Major League Baseball declaring that he was free to sign with any team.

 
                Andy Messersmith

In the interim, union director Marvin Miller was greatly concerned that if Messersmith agreed to a new deal with the Dodgers, the players would lose this chance to challenge the reserve clause. The emergent strategy became this:  veteran left hander Dave McNally, eager to aid the union’s cause, would become a party to the challenge.  McNally, like Messersmith, had played the 1975 season without a contract. McNally, however, had planned to retire after the 1975 season.

        
            Dave McNally

The matter went before a three man panel consisting of an owner's representative, a player’s representative, and independent arbitrator, Peter Seitz.  On December 23, 1975 Seitz declared both Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally free to sign with any team for the 1976 season. Seitz made the finding in equity that Baseball could not renew a player’s contract indefinitely, and with Seitz’s finding, the reserve clause was history.  In a show of the extent of their support for arbitration, the owners fired Seitz the next day.

Major League Baseball immediately appealed the ruling to the US District Court for Western Missouri, but Seitz’s decision was upheld.  The owners then appealed to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, but Baseball wouldn’t get the call there, either.

Spring training of 1976 saw the owners lock out the players in a last ditch effort to thwart free-agency.  Somewhat ironically, it was Bowie Kuhn, named defendant in Curt Flood’s suit, who opened the camps by the middle of March. Management and players reached an agreement allowing for free agency to players with six or more years of service.

The 1977 season would see the first group of free agents and an accompanying rise in player salaries.

Tomorrow:  a look at how far the game has come since Curt Flood was traded in 1969.